What are the raw materials used in making cast iron skillets?

Question

i need to find out the heat retension and the conductivity of the raw materials to compare the to stainless steel skillets. This is for chemistry class.

Answer 1

Iron, thats pretty much it for the skillet.

You also will need silicon dioxide (sand) for the mold to pour the molten iron into. You will also need either a gas or electric arc furnace to melt the iron.

When used they accumulate carbon on the cooking surface, which is called seasoning, and gives it non-stick qualities.

Answer 2

I don't know much about thermal conductivity...except that Cast Iron is given a rating of 55k and Stainless steel is only 14-16.3k.

These numbers do correspond with my hands-on experience as a metal artist. Cast iron conducts heat very well. In fact, I must often pre-heat it prior to welding, or else the metal "wicks" away the heat of the weld so quickly, that the metal violently contracts before your weld sets up, and the weld cracks.

Cast iron is just that: Cast iron. It is the starting point for making steel. There are varying degrees of quality to be found in cast iron, but it's still on the lower end of the metalurgical totem pole. It is full of free graphite particles (lots of carbon), and who knows what else...and is not malleable at all.

Steel on the other hand, is a much more refined product. I have no idea what they do to it, but when all is said and done, steel is an entirely different animal in terms of its working properties, and grain structure. It is alloyed with other metals like chromium, manganese, molybednum and tungsten.

Stainless takes the refined steel one step further, and adds chromium to make it corrosion resistent. It also makes it harder.

As a chemistry student studying how heat and current conduct, I think you'll find that it is this grain/carbon structure difference that makes cast iron conduct heat so well.

I have a friend who is a chef, and he swears by cast iron.